Hereafter
by Ashabird
Summary: An AU fanfiction. After the battle with the first evil Buffy goes to Italy. This story is about the relationship between Buffy and the immortal. For MATURE audiences.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

It was dark on the streets of Milan as I stumbled through the back alleyways and under the few lights that lined my route. To nearly any eye but the most watchful I was merely another American party girl heading home from the clubs, still in full swing at this hour of the night. Perhaps I had lost my friends or was simply young and foolish. Really there was an innumerable amount of excuses as to what I was doing blundering about in the bowels of Italy, only a few short hours before the sun would begin to rise. None of these however even remotely approached the truth. To the many eyes watching me from the shadows I was a tasty treat, a pretty blonde, no longer a girl but not yet a woman. ripe. how could I be a threat to any so powerful , much less the crowd that was swiftly gathering around me. However if even one of the creatures had happened to come close enough to meet my eyes it would not have seen eyes fogged over from alcohol and excess but a gaze that was as hard as flint and sharp enough to cut a man off at the knees. I drew my stake , none of them aware that I had it, much less how deadly it could be in my hands, as the first vampire snapped into motion. Lunging from the shadows ahead of the pack came a wiry red head , his eyes gleaming with bloodlust he reminded me of a stray cat, feral from hunger and abuse. He was dead before he hit the ground, reduced to dust as the pack of nearly a dozen surrounded me, anticipation quickening their approach. They were cautious now and recognition sparkled in the eyes of most as the ashes of their friend lined the gutters. Despite their bests efforts it was clear they were newly dead and inexperienced, so it was a scant half hour later that the dozen or so vamps that had surrounded me encrusted the street , indistinguishable from the grime that covered the gritty stones. It was as I walked away, it occurring to me the resemblance of the red-headed vampires freckles to dark spots of ink that I whipped my head back in the direction of the street from which I'd come, stake at the ready. I'd nearly begun to believe that I had imagined the presence when a slight movement allowed me to pick the shape of a man from the shadows. I could not have told anyone what had alerted me to his appearance knowing immediately that any step he took would be the mere flutter of a moths wings. if I would've had to describe the feeling I would have compared it to the sensation of skin brushing up against that of a familiar friend. or a lover. It was a warm night but even so a slow shiver worked its way up my spine as I stared for a second longer at where he had been only moments before. Eventually I retired to the apartment where I knew everyone would be awaiting my return and as dawn painted the sky I fell into dreams of eyes sheathed in shadow and laughter in the dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Immortal: a thought**

I saw her tonight. the slayer. The woman who managed to permanently seal off an entire Hellmouth, who was the leader of thousands upon thousands of slayers worldwide, who singlehandedly defeated one of my greatest enemies, The Master, when she was but a slip of a girl and now commanded the love of two of the most well known, not to mention vicious vampires in history. I'd thought that perhaps seeing her might quench the raging heat of my curiosity but my effort was for naught. It isn't difficult for me to understand what it is that they see in her, what has drives so many to possess and conquer her. You can virtually taste the life within her, hear the blood pumping through her veins. Just watching her is like being alive again, at least a little bit, as though she could rekindle heartbeats if only by a touch, long dead as though they might be. Throughout my travels I have seen centuries worth of slayers though none were ever quite like her. They were a dime a dozen, ghosting through the world like pale moonlight. Their light was wavering ,weak where she was blinding, casting perhaps some little shred of illumination on the intricate mazes of flesh and fang that are the world they live in. To those who cavort with the dark she is the very essence of sunlight. A light, utterly pure and untouched by the darkness which surrounds it. Even I can feel it , and I have not been anything close to alive for a very long time. I was drawn here, though I was miles away, drawn to the surface, to her, from deep underground. Even now as she walks through the remains of what before had been a snarling pack of wolves cast in the shape of man, the shadows caper around her heels like a faithful puppy, ever drawn to the absolute vitality fairly dripping from her skin. She sees me now. Not well, as I am mostly hidden by the very shadows that so adore her, but she knows I am here. It is no great surprise. I'd been so compelled by my curiosity that I had come much closer than my common sense would normally allow. After a few minutes of studious appraisal, finally I knew that I had lingered as long as I could, there were too few hours until sunrise and if I didn't want to sleep in the sewers for the day I would have to head back now. With an air of regret I made to return to my dwelling place and it was as dawn broke over the city, bleaching shades of sable and jet from the sky that a plan was put into motion.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter one

"Buffy wake up" Someone was shaking me "Buffffy" the person whined. Having had enough of that I blearily cracked open my eyes, gritty from lack of sleep to come face to face with my younger sister Dawn. "What" I grumbled sitting up to lean against the ivy patterned headboard that crowned my bed. "What is it." Rolling her eyes in typical teenage snark she dragged her suitcase from the closet to dump on my bed "guess". i groaned "It's the 21st already? I know you have to go sometime but can't it wait a little while long...never mind" I cut myself off with a sigh, rolling out from under the thin cotton sheets. still speaking as I pulled on a simple tee-shirt and an old pair of shorts "Okay start packing your things and I'll drive you to the airport when you're ready." Not deigning to answer, Dawn shrugged sullenly and started shoving in various items of clothing. Seeing my new sweater disappear into the bag along with a few other familiar blouses and skirts I dearly hoped that I'd retain at least half of my wardrobe when she was finished. I would miss dawn but she had entered her teenage years with a vengeance and I was glad to be able to be able to bum her off on Giles for awhile. Over the past few weeks since coming here I had gained a lot of sympathy for my own mother, compared to dawn I had been a total brat.

It was as I sat in the kitchen drowning my troubles in a glass of orange juice that I thought about how I'd gotten to this point. For about a month after sealing off the Hellmouth in Sunnydale we had decided to stay in Italy for awhile, creating what would become the first branch of a worldwide slayer network. Eventually though, after some much needed r&r everyone had started to get restless. The first to go had been Giles who upon returning to Bath with the intentions of reporting to the watchers council, had discovered hundreds of newly awakened slayer girls, bewildered by their new powers and in need of guidance. And so it was that the english branch of the slayer network was born with Giles at it's head. Faith and Wood had decided to stay in Cleveland to keep an eye on the Hellmouth there and were only now just starting up a North American branch. Faith sent me postcards almost religiously and after a slow start things were really picking up over there with new slayers coming in by the day. Xander had headed to Chicago where apparently there was another Hellmouth in need of supervision. He was keeping tabs on things over there and now had the time he needed to properly mourn Anya, not having been able to in those hectic days after the battle. It was only a few days ago that willow had hit the road to South America. After finally breaking it off with kennedy she decided it would be healing to go study the ancestral Magicks of the South American shamans and native tribes. The only one who had remained behind besides me were Dawn, and Andrew who had taken to the culture and language like a fish to water. Now even dawn was leaving and I would be alone. i knew Andrew would visit as often as he could, but he was busy spearheading the pro-slayer campaign in Italy. It seemed like everyone had at least entertained an idea of what they were going to do after the first evil was defeated and the apocalypse diverted. "everyone except me at least" Buffy thought morosely. " I'm ready" Dawn called breaking off the unwelcome thoughts in mid sentence. Excitedly dragging her bulky luggage to the door, she was fidgeting so furiously that I expected to see skid marks on the floor. " Lets go already" she griped. I swear if I looked hard enough I would see smoke rising from the carpet. With a sigh and one last fond look at my bed the door clicked shut behind us.

Authors note

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